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Honey as a health benefit? Absolutely!

 

If you’re looking for a quick, easy, and tasty way to improve your health, look no further than your bee hives! Since ancient times, honey has been appreciated for its medicinal uses alongside its reputation as a natural sweetener. There are a number of nutritional benefits from adding honey to your day-to-day routine, including the management of your blood pressure and cholesterol.

Many antioxidants that are found in honey are useful in defending our cells from damage that can cause premature aging, type-2 diabetes, and heart disease. Honey may increase adiponectin levels, a hormone that reduces inflammation and improves blood sugar regulation, while also regulating blood platelet coagulation. This activity in the cardiovascular system means honey is an excellent deterrent against heart disease and other cardiac disorders.

Not only is honey rich in antioxidants, but it also possesses prebiotic properties, which create healthy gut bacteria that help break down food and absorb nutrients. These important aspects of honey contribute to a stronger immune system overall.

These only scratch the surface of health benefits that have been observed in honey! Start adding some to your tea or treat yourself to a spoonful every so often; if our ancestors could use honey medicinally, so can you!

Read more about the health benefits of honey in Health.com

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Month in the Hive – July

 

Summer is prime bee season! Michigan bees have been foraging on all the blossoming flowers and trees, including sumac, milkweed, basswood and clover, in order to create a robust nectar flow.

Now that we’re in July, West Michigan bees are busy making honey in their hives. For beekeepers, there isn’t a need to be constantly digging around in the hive unless you’re managing swarm prevention. Be patient if you see a swarm as they usually disband, often within about 15 minutes or an hour.

During July’s hot and humid days, you may notice bees resting outside of the hive. This is completely normal as this is their way of keeping cool.

Throughout the month of July, continue weekly hive inspections, looking for the queen, and checking on the overall health of the hive.

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Why The Metropolitan calls Great Lakes Bee Co. honey ‘delicious’ honey and beeswax candles a ‘rich experience’

 

The Metropolitan, a publication based in Detroit, featured Great Lakes Bee Company’s Hasselman’s Honey and beeswax candles in its June 2024 article, “What do you get by mixing, honey, hot sauce and fried chicken?”

Here’s why The Metropolitan’s staff called our honey “delicious” and the aroma and glow of our beeswax candles a “rich experience.”

The Metropolitan: What do you get by mixing, honey, hot sauce and fried chicken?

Hasselman’s Honey (and, beeswax candles) | Fremont, MI

Since 1974. 100% Local Western Michigan, Unprocessed, Raw & Unfiltered.

Last month, we sent contributing crack storyteller, Jamiel Dado to the west side of Michigan to see what he could dig up on the bee community and those products associated with what the Empire called, Apis mellifera. In his article, “Beeing There,” for The Metropolitan, Jamiel wrote about his journey to Kropscott Farm Environmental Center and observations and discussions from our bee class.

While his experience can be found in the previous link, we’d like to discuss a couple of the products coming out of Great Lakes Bee Company.

It says right on the bottle that Hasselman’s Honey comes straight from the hive, with all the benefits natural honey has to offer. While there is rigorous debate over the health benefits associated with honey – natural sugar vs processed, local honey vs global, etc. – those who keep bees are confident that locally produced, raw, unprocessed honey not only tastes great but provides a myriad of benefits to better living (myriad, a word I do not use in daily conversation but thought it worked given the previous Latin).

We spoon this robust honey on our homemade bread and toast, in our bowl of Whole Milk Greek Yogurt w/ berries, and stir it in our afternoon teas.

Delicious!

Had I been with Jamiel, I might have asked Hasselman what makes the flavor of their honey unique? What flowers contribute to its taste? Does Lake Michigan have anything to do with the end product? How do we safely and ethically support bee communities into producing their finest product? And, how should bees be compensated for their work?

But, alas, I was not there.

Apart from Hasselman’s Honey, we have also been writing by beeswax candlelight for the past 30 days and must say, it has produced a much richer experience – we enjoy the aroma and its soft, flickering, glow!

Hasselman’s small batch honey comes from the Western Shores of Michigan and is hand bottled in Fremont, Michigan, by the Great Lakes Bee Company.

 

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We MOVED! Come see us at our new location on Warner Avenue in Fremont

 

Have you heard the news … WE’VE MOVED!! We’re now located in the Old Rink Plaza, 5973 S. Warner Ave., just down the road from Fremont High School! We are currently only open for in-person shopping by appointment at this time until we get fully settled.

As always, we are open online 24/7 at www.GreatLakesBeeCo.com (Any orders placed online, can be picked up without having to make an appointment).

To schedule an appointment, email: info@greatlakesbeeco.com

Here’s a sneak peek inside our new space!

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Great Lakes Bee Company featured in The Metropolitan

 

Writer and gardner Jamiel Dado joined us for our second beekeeping class in March. In his article, “Beeing There,” for The Metropolitan, Jamiel wrote about his journey to Kropscott Farm Environmental Center and observations and discussions from our bee class.

In his article, Jamiel writes:

“Stefan (Braun) turned out to be a very affable teacher and made the time fly. He made it quite clear from the beginning that keeping bees would result in getting stung quite often. He said that he gets stung on average 50 times a year. He explained that although he wears the protective headgear, he doesn’t usually wear the gloves. I could imagine that they would be bulky and thus difficult to handle things. At this point, a retired doctor in the group informed the class that bee sting therapy was still widely used in the treatment of arthritis. So, I guess it’s a positive thing? It became clear during the presentation that many things the beekeeper does to the bees ends up making them angry, explaining the large amount of stinging involved. His main advice regarding the stinging was to get the stinger out as soon as possible.

One of the controversial aspects about beekeeping (and there are several) that I have come across is the notion that when you harvest honey from the hive, you essentially starve the bees during the winter. I was happy to learn during the course of the day that this is not the method of the responsible beekeeper. Each hive of bees needs between 60-100 pounds of honey to get through the winter. This is accomplished in the space of two supers filled with honeycombed nucs. Once these are filled, additional supers and nucs are placed on top and those are soon filled as well. Stefan asserts that bees are naturally overachievers and will produce much more honey than they need to get through the winter. On average, using this method will supply you with 50-100 pounds of excess honey to harvest per hive!

That’s a lot of honey!

Way to go bees!

One of the best pieces of advice that Stefan stressed on more than one occasion was to find a local bee club to find a mentor and resources. Most bee clubs will have important equipment needed to harvest honey and will usually share or rent it out to members.

If the idea of having a surplus of honey and a new hobby interests you, then I would recommend learning a thing or two from Stefan and the Great Lakes Bee Company. In addition to the classes, they sell bees to get you all set up. In fact, you can purchase nine frame “nucs” that will give you a head start on your honey production.”

Thank you, Jamiel, for joining us at our beekeeping class and writing a fun story about beekeeping!

Read Jamiel’s full article in The Metropolitan, here.

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2024 Spring Bee Pickup on Saturday, May 4: What you need to know

 

Dear Beekeepers,

2024 Bee Pick-Up Day is Saturday, May 4!

Time: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Pick Up Address:
Great Lakes Bee Company
5973 S. Warner Avenue
Fremont, MI  49412

Check or Cash helps keep costs down. If you prefer to use a card, a 3% card fee will be added at time of payment. Payments will be due at pick up.

Packaged bees and 5 frame nucs:

  • These are contained and easy to transport. They will need air and circulation, but no additional box or covering is needed.

9 Frame Nucs:

  • You will need a bottom board, outer cover and set of ratchet straps for each nuc.  We have bottoms, covers and straps available at pick up if needed.  9 Frame nucs travel well in the back of a truck, van, roomy trunk.  Be sure it has plenty of ventilation so bees won’t overheat.

We have a wide variety of woodenware and bee equipment available for purchase at pick up.

Keep your eye out for more updates on our social channels as we get closer!

Any questions: text (231) 335-0929 or email info@greatlakesbeeco.com

We can’t wait to see you on Saturday, May 4!

– Great Lakes Bee Company 

 

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Month in the Hive – March

 

Spring has officially sprung in West Michigan! As the snow disappears and temperatures become a bit warmer, it’s time to get out and check on your hives more regularly.

In early spring, it’s common for colonies to die of starvation. However, if you’ve fed your bees with plenty of sugar syrup in the fall, they should be okay. Bees need more food during this time of year for brood rearing, but can’t forage just yet. That’s why it’s important to check their food stores when the weather is mild. We recommend hives have at least three or four combs full of honey to get them through the next couple of months until nectar and pollen are available and accessible outside. If there isn’t any sealed honey in the top frames, you may need to begin some emergency feeding. You can use dry sugar, fondant, or a candy board, or replace empty combs with combs of capped honey.

Keep in mind when feeding, we recommend keeping the frames intact, and just peeking under the cover. The bees’ proximity to their food source is key. If the cluster is far to one side of the food, you can carefully move it closer, keeping it together while you do so, or move frames of honey closer.

With the days growing longer, the queen steadily increases her rate of egg laying as well. More brood means more food consumed. The drones begin to appear, and bees will continue to consume honey stores. Feeding protein patties is an optional practice to ensure that bees have access to protein for brood rearing. Generally, bees will slowly begin to forage for pollen when the weather is dry and warm. Pollen provides much-needed protein for larval development. But when they can’t forage due to cold and wet weather, protein patties serve as a great source of protein and cover for periods when the colony continues to raise brood. Beekeepers can choose to feed protein patties throughout the spring or choose to monitor weather conditions and the pollen intake into the hive to ensure their bees are getting the necessary protein they need.

Next up: Preparing and planning for the upcoming season!

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Month in the Hive – February

 

Are you getting into bees and confused by all of the hubbub about queens or “breeds” of bees? Well, it is easy to say it doesn’t matter and bees are bees. But that doesn’t really answer the question. One thing we need to remember is that when someone is selling Italian bees, Carniolan Bees, or Russian bees, they are selling bees based on traits and characteristics more than genetics. These traits have been selected for years in breeding programs to accentuate characteristics found in the namesake populations. Much like cultivar groups of brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, collard greens, kale, and kohlrabi are the same species of cruciferous, but express different traits due to selective breeding.

When someone is selling Italian queens or bees, they are selling bees that tend to develop large clusters. With the large clusters, Italians tend to produce ample honey crops. Also, they are fairly gentle bees that show little aggression toward the beekeepers’ missteps. The large clusters can be a blessing or a hindrance going into winter. Bees huddle together to keep warm in the winter, so more the merrier, right? Well, with all of those mouths to feed they need more resources in the cold winters and spring that follows. A well-stocked Italian hive will survive winter and spring, but if the pollen and nectar fail to materialize, Italians will burn through resources to be ready for an eventual flow. This can lead to starvation in a delayed spring if the beekeeper does not keep an eye on them. As far as physical traits, Italian bees tend to be blond in color with brown to black stripes. Italian queens tend to be blond to light orange/amber with occasional brown to black markings.

Carniolan queens and bees, on the other hand, winter in smaller clusters. This is great for conserving resources, but can lead to excessive die off in exceptionally cold winters. They do develop strong clusters in the spring, but unlike Italians they will pull back brood rearing if resources become scarce. Carniolan bees are one of the gentlest bee varieties you’ll find. The bees tend to be orange/amber to black with black stripes, while the queens range from a dark orange or brown to black.

The last common variety of honey bee is the Russian. Russians are an interesting mix. They winter with good sized clusters and produce good honey crops. They have been shown to carry lighter mite loads and have lower tolerance for mite presents. So, what is the downside to Russian bees? Well, they are a bit more aggressive than Italians or Carniolans, and tend to swarm more. Some will say that more aggressive bees will produce more honey, but in our experience aggression does not correlate to honey production. The tendency to swarm helps with mites by introducing brood breaks. The coloring of Russian bees would fall about in the middle of Italians and Carniolans, while the Russian queens tend to be blond to orange/amber in color and often have brown to black stripes.

Finally, you may have heard of bee brands like Beeweaver, Saskatraz, and Ankle Biters. These brands have meticulously bred bees to focus on traits the breeder finds attractive. Each and every brand will tell you in detail what they focus on, but in general they focus on mite resistance, gentleness, and honey production. You may come across Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) and VSH stock is the fruit of breeding programs that select breeding stock based on the tests that evaluate hygienic behavior. Hygienic behavior for bees is seen in uncapping, recapping, and removal behavior of brood that is not “normal” or healthy. This behavior translates to fewer mites in the hive and a less hospitable environment for mites to reproduce.

Where does this leave you for selecting the type of bees? Personally, we recommend new beekeepers start off with Carniolans or Italians. This is because of their gentleness and they are a bit more forgiving of “newbees” mistakes. After several years, once the newbee has become a proficient beekeeper, then one might bring in stock with traits they want to introduce into their apiary.

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Benefits of dark chocolate and rose

 

Did you know our infused honey not only tastes good, but has certain health benefits too? Let’s have a closer look at our Rose and Dutch Chocolate infused honeys.

Yes, our Rose-infused honey makes a Brie cheese spread spectacular and is a savory addition to tea, yogurt, ice cream and your morning pancakes. BUT rose is also known for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties, which can increase dopamine and help with anxiety and depression. Rose is also helpful in sickness and cancer prevention, especially breast or cervical cancer, and helps reduce inflammation, pain, and menstrual cramping. Think about that extra punch of antioxidants, vitamin C and vitamin E the next time you pour rose honey in your afternoon tea.

Now, our Dutch Chocolate-infused honey – that is something that satisfies our sweet tooth AND our body’s natural “feel good” chemical, serotonin. Have you ever taken a bite of dark chocolate and felt instant happiness? That instant joy and satisfaction comes from an increase in serotonin due to the chemical make-up of tryptophan (amino acid that helps make serotonin), phenylethylalanine (natural anti-depressant), and theobromine (mood relaxer and stress reliever) – all of which are found in dark chocolate.

Additionally, the flavanols in dark chocolate are also known to help with cardiovascular disease and improve metabolic health, which can lead to lowering blood pressure and LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and alleviating diabetes. Dark chocolate is also high in antioxidants, which can enhance insulin secretion, improve insulin sensitivity, prevent inflammation, and create a fat-lowering effect. It is also rich in nutrients, including fiber, iron, magnesium, copper, potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium. Go ahead and pour our Dutch Chocolate infused honey on, well, anything, and get a dose of sweetness while also packing in some nutrients.

Don’t have our Rose or Dutch Chocolate honeys? Check out our varying sizes of infused honey here.

Note: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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Month In the Hive – January

 

Now that the holidays are behind us, it’s time to turn our minds back on bees, which we’ve all probably forgotten about during the holiday hustle and bustle.

Since snow and bitter cold temperatures have moved in, our concern is whether our bees have enough food. Fortunately, bees are super conservative with their winter stores, so a well-stocked hive going into winter should have ample resources to make it through spring. The hives of greatest concern are the ones that a bit light, despite our fall feeding, going into winter. If you ask an old-school beekeeper, they will tell you that you just need to lift the back of the hive and if it takes more than two fingers then the bees are good. The idea is that you can tell just by lifting it. We might argue that this only works if you have experience judging the weight by lifting hives. Also, everyone has different strengths. So, we might be able to lift a hive with plenty of stores with two fingers and someone else might not be able to lift a starving hive with two fingers.

Is there a better way to judge the stores in the hive? To judge the stores without lifting, pop the outer cover and see if you can see bees at the top of the hive through the hole in your inner cover. Pick a day that is around the mid-30 degrees with little wind and precipitation. If you see your bees have moved up to cover new resources, then they are burning through resources and might need some supplemental feed. If your bees are boiling through the hole in the inner cover, then they are probably pretty close, if not out of food. This only works if you are wintering double deep hives because a single deep hive will not have enough space for the bees to be below the stores. If you can’t see any activity or you are wintering single deep hives, pop the inner cover and shine a light down the frames. You will be able to see the resources and where your bees are in the hive. Sometimes the cluster will move to the side of the hive that gets sun on short winter days and are not visible through the inner cover.

We all know there will be an uproar from beekeepers about opening hives in winter. Although we want to minimize interruptions to our hives in winter, the bees are not adversely affected by brief openings – and may starve without intervention. Bees warm their cluster to roughly 60 degrees unless they have brood then they maintain the temperature around 90 degrees. Notice the cluster temperature is maintained, the rest of the hive is only slightly warmer than outside temperatures. We should not be pulling frames, but as long as our interruptions are brief the bees will barely notice our intrusions.

Now that we have determined we need to provide some supplemental feed, how do we get in in the hive in a way the bees can use it? Liquid feed is out of the question, it will freeze and any bees that fall into it will never make it out. If a super with honey is available, adding the entire super box to the hive is a good option. Some like to make up fondant and place it over the cluster. Others like to use the Mountain Camp Method of feeding. The Mountain Camp Method is by far the easiest way to feed your bee in winter. This method can be done several ways, but can be achieved by simply pouring dry sugar on the inner cover, adding a spacer (empty supper box), then outer cover. This creates a space for the feed and the bees can come up as needed. Some remove the inner cover, place a piece of newspaper with small holes over the cluster, pour the dry sugar on top, add a spacer, and then return the covers.

However you choose to provide for your bees, these quick checks can be the difference for your bees. All hives should be checked every few weeks. One would be surprised at how quickly bees consume resources. A heavy hive today can burn through a super of resources in a few weeks if the conditions are right. On warmer days, bees consume more resources when flying. Keep this in mind as faults springs come and go. Many colonies that have made it through winter struggle in spring waiting for the trees and flowers to bloom.